Up to 4.6 Million Women of Reproductive Age Eligible for Expanded Medicaid Coverage, Study Finds

August 14, 2012 — Women of reproductive age account for about 4.6 million of an estimated 15 million uninsured U.S. residents who could obtain coverage under the federal health reform law's (PL 111-148) Medicaid expansion, according to a study by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CQ HealthBeat reports.

The Affordable Care Act provides federal funding for states to expand Medicaid coverage to residents with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. For the report, researchers assumed that all states would expand Medicaid coverage, although the Supreme Court's ruling on the ACA made states' participation in the expansion optional.

"This has the potential to lead to better health in women who are or who become mothers, to increased spacing between births, and to improved birth outcomes and health of newborns," the study said of the expanded coverage for women (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 8/10).

About half of the 15 million individuals who would be eligible for coverage under the Medicaid expansion are ages 19 through 34, the study found (Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 8/10). In addition, about 35% are ages 35 through 54, while about 15% are ages 55 through 64.

Around 82%, or 12.4 million, of newly eligible adults do not have dependent children living with them, while about 53% are male, according to the study.

The study also found that 55% of the newly eligible population is white, 19% is Hispanic, 19% is black and 7% is "another race," according to CQ HealthBeat (CQ HealthBeat, 8/10).